MQS Management LLC Invests $412,000 in Woodward, Inc. $WWD

MQS Management LLC purchased a new stake in Woodward, Inc. (NASDAQ:WWD) in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor purchased 1,680 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $412,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in Woodward during the second quarter valued at about $261,000. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Woodward by 24.1% during the second quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 4,443 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,089,000 after acquiring an additional 863 shares during the period. First Business Financial Services Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Woodward in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $245,000. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Woodward in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $3,644,000. Finally, Forum Financial Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of Woodward in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $279,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.18% of the company’s stock.

Woodward Stock Performance

Shares of WWD stock opened at $265.82 on Monday. Woodward, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $146.82 and a fifty-two week high of $267.45. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $247.41 and its two-hundred day moving average is $232.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 2.04 and a quick ratio of 1.39. The firm has a market cap of $15.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.06, a PEG ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.26.

Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 28th. The technology company reported $1.76 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $915.45 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $884.98 million. Woodward had a return on equity of 16.57% and a net margin of 11.32%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.63 EPS. Analysts predict that Woodward, Inc. will post 6.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Woodward Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 4th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 20th will be given a $0.28 dividend. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 20th. Woodward’s payout ratio is currently 17.72%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WWD has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Woodward from $283.00 to $299.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 29th. Alembic Global Advisors raised Woodward from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $281.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, August 20th. Wolfe Research set a $300.00 price objective on Woodward and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 3rd. Truist Financial upped their target price on Woodward from $267.00 to $294.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 11th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Woodward from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, September 13th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Woodward presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $268.67.

Insider Activity at Woodward

In other news, Director John D. Cohn sold 1,750 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $244.32, for a total transaction of $427,560.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 20,963 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,121,680.16. This trade represents a 7.70% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.82% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Woodward Profile

Woodward, Inc designs, manufactures, and services control solutions for the aerospace and industrial markets worldwide. The company operates in two segments, Aerospace and Industrial. The Aerospace segment provides fuel pumps, metering units, actuators, air valves, specialty valves, fuel nozzles, and thrust reverser actuation systems for turbine engines and nacelles, and flight deck controls, actuators, servocontrols, motors, and sensors for aircraft.